Tonight I have the great pleasure of attending the tribute concert honoring Patti Smith at Carnegie Hall with an incredible roster of artists and actors playing her songs and reading her work. When I was fifteen years old, in 1975, I discovered two works that would change the course of my life. Ariel by Sylvia Plath, that slim volume of poems that spoke to all the pain I couldn’t name. And Horses, the album, that spoke to all the rage. I found it in Cutler’s, the New Haven record store, where I spent many hours perusing albums. I hadn’t heard of Patti Smith, but the jacket art called out. An androgynous looking woman in a black and white portrait photograph, white shirt, suspenders, an unapologetic gaze. Reader, I bought it. From the very first lines, I was galvanized, besotted. When I wrote to Patti Smith as a young editor wondering if she’d consider writing her memoir, I never could have possibly imagined that 28 years later we would have become compatriots, friends, editor and writer connected through language and poetry, life and art. Tonight is a night of nights.
Photo: Steven Sebring
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Betsy Lerner 
I am happy for you, Betsy.
— Stephen Sossaman
I’m sure you know how envious I am of this. Like you, I discovered her at 15 and sat in my closet writing death poetry all that year. Lots of ellipses and use of a thesaurus. I’m seeing her at the Anthem in September for the Horses anniversary. I’m so excited. (Can you get me backstage? LOL)
Wow. Have fun and float on air for the next few days! And congratulations to Patti Smith, for all she’s done.
Looking forward to a full report!
At 15 I discovered Janis Joplin who helped me express rage, but much later I discovered Patti who helped me understand it. In 1996, a decade after my partner died she released an album that finally gave me closure.
It was through you, Betsy, right here at Betsy’s Home for Wayward Writers, that I learned of “Just Kids,” fourteen years ago, and I read it then (I have a reading log and I just checked — it was January 2011, to be more precise).
Thank you, Betsy, for hosting this forum, and for all the helpful pointers and feedback (and books) you have provided over the years. While we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, you have made a positive impact, both to my writing and my life.
and you in mine as a valued and wise member of this community. Xoxo
What an incredibly beautiful experience to have. Thank you for sharing it with us, I can’t wait to hear what you ultimately take away from the culmination of it all.
Impressive lifelong story, then it all came together